The Fourth House in Astrology
Welcome to the Fourth House in astrology. The fourth house is ruled by the Moon and the sign of Cancer. It is located in your chart at a point called the Nadir – or IC, right at the bottom of the chart. This meridian passes through your birthplace which is why astrologers want to know where you were born. This is literally where you ‘come down to Earth’ in this lifetime. How ‘grounded’ you are is therefore a fourth house consideration.
The fourth house rules our home, our family – especially our prime nurturing parent or carer – usually the mother but sometimes the father, our childhood, and our values as well as the things we value. It rules hereditary, our ethnic or cultural traditions, the influence of our family, psychological patterns (since our families play a huge role in forming these), memories and also our sense of self-sufficiency.
As the fourth house rules our home, then real estate and property, as well as your personal ‘space’ come under it. It also rules things we accumulate and our attitude towards them, so hoarders also come under the fourth house – probably due to a planet in the house weakening it! The fourth house indicates whether someone will leave their birthplace and the ascendant tells us in which direction they will go and what advantages they may find there.
On a soul level, the fourth house is where we integrate our sense of belonging. This goes beyond mere bricks and mortar to our connection with ourselves. Being able to say ‘I’m home’ and feeling secure no matter where we are. Just saying ‘I’m home’ has a resonance to it that brings about a sense of peace and wellbeing. Our journey on this Earth also encompasses a homecoming to ourselves. We need to achieve this so we can be ‘home’ psychically and emotionally to ourselves and to those we love. When we do this we create a sacred space within ourselves. This is the lesson contained within the fourth house.
The fourth house exerts a huge influence on where we live throughout our lives, the nature of the home we will live in, where it will be located and also whether we will acquire real estate of our own. In women, the fourth house also rules the first child. If you have a fourth house that contains a lot of planets this usually indicates your first child will pursue a scientific career!
Just as the fourth house tells us about the start of our life, it also rules the last part of our lives as it indicates our circumstances during later life and also where our physical body may ‘end up’ when we have finished with it – in other words, our place of burial if we have one (for information on where you are going next – you need to look to the 12th house!). A well-aspected fourth house often indicates a comfortable old age.
If you want to know more about your chart, then a session with one of our talented astrologers will be able to open the door to your fourth and all your other houses.
